Wireless networks continue to evolve as new communication technologies develop and standardize. Wireless network operators can deploy new communication technologies in parallel with earlier generation communication technologies, and wireless networks can support multiple communication technologies simultaneously to provide smooth transitions through multiple generations of wireless communication devices. Wireless communication devices can include hardware and software to support wireless connections to different types of wireless networks that use different wireless communication technologies. Wireless networks using different radio access technologies (RATs) can overlap in geographic area coverage, and wireless communication devices can support connections using different RATs depending on services and/or coverage available. A wireless service provider can provide services to wireless communication devices through overlapping wireless networks, and wireless communication devices can connect to one or more of the overlapping wireless networks. In a representative embodiment, a wireless service provider and/or a wireless communication device can include simultaneous support for a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) or Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) wireless communication protocol and a “legacy” third generation (and/or earlier generation) wireless communication protocol. Representative “legacy” protocols include the Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 1× (also referred to as 1×RTT or 1×) wireless communication protocol, the 3GPP Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) wireless communication protocol, and the 3GPP Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) wireless communication protocol.
Dual chip (also referred to as dual radio) wireless communication devices can include separate signal processing chips that each can support a different wireless communication protocol, such as a first signal processing chip for a CDMA 2000 1× wireless network and a second signal processing chip for a LTE wireless network. In particular, in a dual chip wireless communication device, each signal processing chip can include and/or be associated with its own set of receive signal processing chains, including in some instances multiple receive antennas and parallel signal processing blocks. With at least one radio frequency receive signaling chain being available to each signal processing chip independently in the dual chip wireless communication device and tunable to different carrier frequencies, signaling messages (e.g., pages) and/or references signals (e.g., for cell selection/reselection measurement) can be received independently and simultaneously from two different wireless networks, such as from the CDMA 2000 1× wireless network and from the LTE wireless network. Even when the dual chip wireless communication device is connected and actively transferring data through one of the signal processing chips to one of the wireless networks, such as the LTE wireless network, the dual chip wireless communication device can also listen for and receive a paging message or measure signals through the other parallel signal processing chip from a second wireless access network, such as the CDMA 2000 1× wireless network. Thus, the dual chip wireless communication device can establish a mobile device originating or mobile device terminating circuit switched voice connection through the CDMA 2000 1× wireless network while also being actively connected to (or simultaneously camped on) a packet switched LTE wireless network. The dual chip wireless communication device can also provide a connection on the CDMA 2000 1× wireless network, while also maintaining a connection (or at least listening for signals and messages) on the LTE wireless network. Dual chip wireless communication devices, however, can consume more power, can require a larger physical form factor and can require additional components (and cost more) than a more integrated “single chip” wireless communication device.
A single chip (also referred to as a single radio) wireless communication device, at least in some configurations, can include a signal processing chip that can support different wireless communications protocols but can be unable to be actively connected to and communicating bi-directionally with a first wireless access network and a second wireless access network simultaneously. The single radio wireless communication device can support multiple wireless communication technologies, such as connections to a CDMA 2000 1× wireless network and to an LTE wireless network, but only to one wireless network at any given time. In some configurations, a single radio wireless communication device can be limited to receiving signals that use one wireless communication technology type at a time, particularly when multiple antennas are used to receive signals for a single communication technology, e.g., when used to support multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and/or transmit or receive diversity through multiple antennas. In a representative embodiment, a single radio wireless communication device is able to connect to or camp on an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) of an LTE (or LTE-Advanced) wireless network and also to connect to or camp on a radio access network (RAN) of the CDMA 2000 1× wireless network, but is not able to communication bi-directionally to both wireless networks simultaneously. The single radio wireless communication device can be registered on both the LTE wireless network and on the CDMA 2000 1× wireless network and can therefore form connections with each wireless network singly but not simultaneously. The single radio wireless communication device can be connected on the LTE wireless network and can interrupt the connection to the LTE wireless network to communicate with the CDMA 2000 1× wireless network, e.g., to listen for pages, to measure signals, to provide location area updates, or to establish a connection with the CDMA 2000 1× wireless network. During the interrupted LTE connection, control signaling and data transmission between the wireless communication device and the wireless access network portion of the LTE wireless network can be interrupted. Packet transmissions and/or signaling messages from the LTE wireless network to the single radio wireless communication device can be dropped. For sufficiently long interruptions, the LTE wireless network can drop a connection with the single radio wireless communication device.
This application describes methods by which a single radio wireless communication device can be configured to operate in a multiple wireless network environment with simultaneous reception of signals from two different wireless networks.